...Is that REALLY the question we should be asking? Or is ALLEGIANCE the question at hand? Picture this....
The Apostle Paul is heading to minister. The prevailing culture for these new believers has been polytheism, worshipping many gods, each one believed to "reign" over a specific dominion of life, once they heard of Jesus, they add Him to the long list of gods that allegedly govern life. Paul's challenge is to present this paradigm, of ALLEGIANCE....not only to One God, which is in and of itself a mind bend for them, but also to a KING, KING JESUS. In that day, there is only ONE KING, and ALLEGIANCE TO THE KING is not only required, but also carries a "peer pressure" to keep ALLEGIANCE purely towards the Governing officials of that region, otherwise PERSEECUTION will arrise from every direction.
Let's draw the parallel. What does ALLEGIANCE TO THE ONLY GOD, AND TO THE KING look like present day? Are you facing PERSECUTION for wanting to show your ALLEGIANCE to THE KING in the midst of our Poly Theistic culture? Are you wanting to NOT CELEBRATE A HOLIDAY STEEPED IN ODD ORGINS & TRADITIONS, in a culture that is consumed with propegating and pressuring everyone to participate? If you want to STOP - then STOP. CELEBRATING. CHRISTMAS. and LET'S GOOOOO!! CONGRATULATIONS and know that you are facing the same kind of persecution that comes with living a Godly life, "Indeed, all who desire to live a Godly life in Yeshua HaMashiac will be persecuted." - 2 Tim3:12
For those still celebrating - understand, Christmas is celebrated in 161 countries out of 195 total countries in the world. Are 161 countries "Christian nations" ? Last google search found 15 nations to be "Christian nations". If the majority of the World is celebrating this Holiday that in America, we claim is to honor Jesus, what are the non-Christian nations celebrating? What are you celebrating? Or are you one of those, that are a believer, on fire, leading others to follow the God of the Bible, but you are stuck, living in mixture, unwilling to divorce yourself from this cultural Poly Theistic tradition that has it's claws in every facet of life for almost 2 months in the USA, or worse yet, you're blinded by justification that "this is how you WORSHIP the Creator of the Universe."? If so, I'll be honest, I no longer want to hear from those in the faith, the myriad of "reasons' they are still participating in various levels of Christmas practices: "this is what Christmas means to me" "It's Jesus' birthday and I am going to celebrate it" "My family still celebrates and it's so hard to not get presents for the kids" "The Church Fathers (fill in the blanks)" "this is her special, most beloved season and I'm just not going to take that away from her" - I just want to know - WHO IS YOUR KING? WHERE IS YOUR ALLEGIANCE? There is a LOT OF PRESSURE to continue to celebrate Christmas, but I EXHORT YOU - TAKE A STEP OF FAITH AND BURN THE SHIPS! I personally had to chop up a family heirloom to cut some emotional ties, because I GREW UP celebrating the holiday and I had ALL THE REASONS EVERYONE ELSE HAS TO KEEP CELEBRATING, but BEFORE I EVEN UNDERSTOOD TORAH, I was CONVICTED that our God despises MIXTURE, so I am emploring you - do what it takes, and publically declare your ALLEGIANCE TO THE KING YESHUA, by divorcing yourself from the Poly Theistic practice of Christmas. When you see Him coming in the clouds, on that White Horse, His robe dipped in blood, with a name written KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS on it and on His thigh, and the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, following Him on White Horses; you want Him finding you:
PURE AND SPOTLESS FAITFHFUL NOT ADULTEROUS FAITH FILLED ENDURING TILL THE END
WITH YOUR LAMPS TRIMMED AND WAITING FOR HIS ARRIVAL. He has called us to be SET APART - if 160 plus nations are celebrating Christmas, Pagan or not, it's NOT a Set Apart practice. Please stop playing the Harlot.
And SHARE YOUR TESTIMONIES of how you did!! and how you also faced PERSECUTION FOR YOUR FAITH! And make DECEMBER 25 A REGULAR WORK DAY as it used to be in the 1700's in the USA, before it became a federal holiday, endorsed by President Grant as a social justice mission to "bond the North and South over common holidays" in a post Civil War setting. It's the frog in the pot, first it was Immigrants bringing their customs that were pushing the Puritans boundaries that did not want to adopt the "sinful, decadent practices of a man made invention". Then it was the cartoonist Thomas Nast with his Santa Clause, and holiday decorations. During the Civil War, Christmas was a day of Peace (are you seeing the influence of the leaders of the day, to sway the people in a certain direction to not only adopt the practices, but also to dilute the opposition to the celebration.) Cue the industrial Revolution and materialism, "The Jewelers set out the choicest array to tempt us, confectionaries and toy shops are ablaze with light at night." -(excerps from Earle Cornelius / Lancaster Online.) Foxes running through your vineyard, the seductress, calling us to prostitute our ALLEGIANCE.
To be clear, if you claim to follow the God of the Bible, the first of the Big Ten (Commandments) is
"I am YHVH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods besides me."" - Exodus 20:2,3 He brought us OUT, stop lamenting Egypt, stop being slaves, stop being Poly Theistic, declare your ALLEGIANCE TO KING YESHUA.
STOP. CELEBRATING. CHRISTMAS.
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